tdenny
Platinum Member
Grass does tend to go dormant in the heat of the summer. This is not normally a bad thing, except to look at. I don't water mine at all. Of course I'm in the Great NW and it rains all year around./w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif
City or well water?
- Thread starter Michael_S
- Start date
- Views: 4002
Alan L.
Elite Member
A couple of years ago I had to choose between a rural water system and a well. The water system was 1500 feet away and they wanted $11,000 including extension and tap fee. I ended up drilling a 500' well that cost $14K. My neighbor about 1000 feet away has some iron and just a little sulphur in his, and his well produces 7 gpm. Mine turned out at 35 to 40 gpm, no iron, no sulphur. Mine gets cloudy from time to time, requiring an undersink filter, whereas his does not.
I'm very pleased with my well. The water tastes great, it is soft, and I don't have a water bill. My water bill with the rural water system would have been $300 or more in the summer, considering the plants and turf that we water.
I'd like to get a generator in case of power failure, but my well pump is a 5HP, 400 feet in the hole and a 10K unit is needed. Pretty pricey.
I found out at my property tax hearing last week that a well in our area is valuable. At least the review board thought it was, as they would not have assigned any value to my rural water connection, if I had one, but they valued my well at the $14K I paid for it.
I'm very pleased with my well. The water tastes great, it is soft, and I don't have a water bill. My water bill with the rural water system would have been $300 or more in the summer, considering the plants and turf that we water.
I'd like to get a generator in case of power failure, but my well pump is a 5HP, 400 feet in the hole and a 10K unit is needed. Pretty pricey.
I found out at my property tax hearing last week that a well in our area is valuable. At least the review board thought it was, as they would not have assigned any value to my rural water connection, if I had one, but they valued my well at the $14K I paid for it.
wasabi
Platinum Member
<font color=blue> People have chosen to ignore the issue, not build the water genration facilities. </font color=blue>
That's simply not true, Gary. There are many intelligent folks out there hunkered down over this issue. Municipalities and states negotiate, position and plan over these resources daily. Facilities are being built fairly rapidly. There are at least two major desalination plants under construction in Florida....IMHO, they represent symptoms of the scope of this problem, rather than epitomizing the most effective solution.
<font color=blue> If Atlanta is running out of water, WHY are building permits being issued for new homes that will not be able to be serviced. Why do they issue permits to install sprinklers. Why not ban all watering of lawns. </font color=blue>
don't know, don't live there....just used that particular example to illustrate my point....even if I did live there, I would not be running for office to try and address those problems....I address macro issues, not to change them, but in order to observe what I observe and position investments accordingly.
I agree with you that there is much to be said for water conservation efforts, but suggest, sadly, that if voluntary litter cessation and recycling are any indications, too many people in our culture are too lazy, too ignorant or simply in denial of the problem and unfortunately don't choose to participate...
Any of us that have essentially unrestricted access via wells or springs or even via city serivce will thank our lucky stars as years go by and the importance of this resource comes to be more fully appreciated.
That's simply not true, Gary. There are many intelligent folks out there hunkered down over this issue. Municipalities and states negotiate, position and plan over these resources daily. Facilities are being built fairly rapidly. There are at least two major desalination plants under construction in Florida....IMHO, they represent symptoms of the scope of this problem, rather than epitomizing the most effective solution.
<font color=blue> If Atlanta is running out of water, WHY are building permits being issued for new homes that will not be able to be serviced. Why do they issue permits to install sprinklers. Why not ban all watering of lawns. </font color=blue>
don't know, don't live there....just used that particular example to illustrate my point....even if I did live there, I would not be running for office to try and address those problems....I address macro issues, not to change them, but in order to observe what I observe and position investments accordingly.
I agree with you that there is much to be said for water conservation efforts, but suggest, sadly, that if voluntary litter cessation and recycling are any indications, too many people in our culture are too lazy, too ignorant or simply in denial of the problem and unfortunately don't choose to participate...
Any of us that have essentially unrestricted access via wells or springs or even via city serivce will thank our lucky stars as years go by and the importance of this resource comes to be more fully appreciated.
patrickg
Veteran Member
Reverse osmosis harming non-PVC piping?????? All the commercial under counter reverse osmosis units I have ever seen have their own storage tank for "product water" and a separate spigot/faucet to dispense it and are plumbed with small diameter plastic tubing. I don't think there is any way for the house plumbing to "know" that you have RO with this arrangement. In face, most setups come with the tank, tubing, and faucet. I wouldn't advise anyone to plumb the RO water to distant outlets as the water stored in the lines might possibly "go bad" but you could put a microbiologic filter at each point of use. Still I would get professional advice before I started storing water before use without proper filtration.
Oh by the way... our rural water district is quite concerned with cross contamination to thte point of not hooking yoiu up untio inspected and found compliant. Yoi may not have means of cross contamination, e.g. ability to mix well and rural water. Yoi may use unions or other connection devices and methods that permit yoi to select water for your house from well or rural mains as long as you can't have both turned on at the same time. I guess our rural water dist isn't quite so ****.
Patrick
Oh by the way... our rural water district is quite concerned with cross contamination to thte point of not hooking yoiu up untio inspected and found compliant. Yoi may not have means of cross contamination, e.g. ability to mix well and rural water. Yoi may use unions or other connection devices and methods that permit yoi to select water for your house from well or rural mains as long as you can't have both turned on at the same time. I guess our rural water dist isn't quite so ****.
Patrick
lpdcac
New member
We're "rural" rural so we don't have a choice about well vs municipal water. BUT, if we had a choice we'd go municipal in a heartbeat. The aquifer around here is contaminated with bacteria from agricultural activities and there's next to no chance of cleaning it up. Thus, for drinking we use bottled water. For anything else it comes out of our well.
PhilD
PhilD
dummy
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2001
- Messages
- 730
- Location
- Southern Maryland
- Tractor
- Ford 1220, John Deere 770, Case 580E and Allmand TLB-35
OK an under sink unit. Supposedly, RO's remove too much from the water and if used in a whole house type arrangement will degrade the metal (copper or galvanized) supply lines thereby shortening their lifespan. Got my info. from the people at Barnstead when I was buying treatment equipment. Never really checked into it further, was hoping somebody else might know more.
dummy
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2001
- Messages
- 730
- Location
- Southern Maryland
- Tractor
- Ford 1220, John Deere 770, Case 580E and Allmand TLB-35
Doesn't matter according to their rules. You either get city or well water, not both. Not even legal to keep the well open for watering the gardens and lawn. Another neat thing they do is charge sewer rates by the water meter. Their reasoning for that is "whatever goes in, must go out."
looch
Veteran Member
Funny coincidence. My parents - who have city water to the house and a well for the garden - just got a letter from the municipality reminding them that it is illegal to interconnect the two.
MossRoad
Super Moderator
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2001
- Messages
- 58,084
- Location
- South Bend, Indiana (near)
- Tractor
- Power Trac PT425 2001 Model Year
In the city here, they figure your sewage on water usage during 3 winter months so that lawn watering, pool filling and car washing don't affect the sewage portion. Pretty nice if you ask me.
Bird
Rest in Peace
<font color=blue>You either get city or well water, not both. Not even legal to keep the well open for watering the gardens and lawn.</font color=blue>
I can understand concerns about cross connections, but if that's eliminated, I don't understand why you couldn't have both. My grandparents, and later my parents, lived in town in Oklahoma for many many years and the house was on city water, while the outdoor faucets were on well water. In fact, they had 3 wells; two with electric pumps and one with a rope, bucket, and pulley.
I can understand concerns about cross connections, but if that's eliminated, I don't understand why you couldn't have both. My grandparents, and later my parents, lived in town in Oklahoma for many many years and the house was on city water, while the outdoor faucets were on well water. In fact, they had 3 wells; two with electric pumps and one with a rope, bucket, and pulley.
